Escalation in Mukalla: Yemen declares emergency after Saudi Arabia bombs port; 72-hour blockade imposed

Yemen’s anti-Houthi forces declared a state of emergency on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia carried out airstrikes on the port city of Mukalla. According to Riyadh, the strikes targeted an arms shipment bound for UAE-backed separatist forces.

The anti-Houthi authorities also cancelled a security pact with the United Arab Emirates, announcing the decision in an official statement. "The Joint Defence Agreement with the United Arab Emirates is hereby cancelled," the statement read.


Following the attack, the authorities ordered a 72-hour ban on all border crossings. Saudi Arabia said the airstrikes targeted armoured vehicles and weapons offloaded from ships that arrived in Mukalla from Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

In a military statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, the coalition said that the vessels had disabled their tracking systems and were carrying military equipment intended for the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a powerful separatist force backed by the UAE.

The coalition said the weapons posed an “imminent threat” to peace and stability, prompting a limited and precise overnight strike designed to avoid civilian casualties.


Analysts said the strike displayed growing friction between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, close allies that have supported competing groups in Yemen’s decade-long war. While both countries oppose the Houthis, they support rival factions on the ground, according to the news agency AP.

Satellite tracking data indicated that at least one vessel believed to be carrying the weapons had been docked in Fujairah on December 22 before arriving in Mukalla on Sunday.

Mukalla, located in Yemen’s Hadramout governorate, lies about 480 kilometres northeast of Aden, the interim seat of Yemen’s internationally recognised government. The STC has recently expanded its presence in the region, pushing out forces affiliated with the Saudi-backed National Shield Forces.

The Saudi strike follows earlier airstrikes on Friday, which analysts described as a warning to the STC to halt its advance in Hadramout and neighbouring Mahra. The separatist group has stepped up its campaign in recent days, with supporters increasingly flying the flag of former South Yemen, which existed as a separate state until 1990.

The developments come amid broader instability across the Red Sea region, where Saudi Arabia and the UAE also back opposing sides in Sudan’s ongoing conflict. Tensions have further been heightened after Israel’s recent recognition of Somalia’s breakaway region of Somaliland, a move that has drawn threats from Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

The situation in eastern Yemen remains volatile, with regional rivalries increasingly complicating efforts to stabilise the war-torn country.